(Source is attached, there's too much to code tag in here.)
Hello, ive recently spent alot of time working on improving my OOP knowledge so i can make a game where the code files don't make me sick .
i would like some experienced C++ Programmers(SFML knowledge or Not) to review my code and let me know of any bonehead mistakes ive made, or areas where i could improve something, that kind of thing.
i do ask that you please don't comment on the formatting of the text, or something of the like.(i.e.things that don't help me with OOP, things that are mostly/wholly subjective opinions, Unless you 100% whole heatedly think that it is something that i need to know and would be very beneficial to me.)
Thanks!
(as of the build you guys can download, debug & release run perfectly and there is no errors (at least none ive noticed in the many hours with it.)
(also id like to note, currently this isn't a game of any kind, im just working on mechanics (Gravity, Collision, Ect.) and as my knowledge grows i will slowly piece it into a game.)

To answer this directly. You have a couple of options. You can interact with each RectangleShape within the vector by doing what you are doing in the bricks loop:
vector<sf::RectangleShape> bricks(10, sf::RectangleShape(Square));
bricks[3].setPosition(...);
bricks[5].setPosition(...);
Alternatively you can host a vector of pointers to RectangleShapes
vector<sf::RectangleShape*> bricks;
RectangleShape some_shape = sf::RectangleShape();
some_shape.setPosition(...);
some_shape.setSize(...);
bricks.push_back(&some_shape);
some_shape.setPosition(40, 40); // now bricks[0].position == (40, 40)
To address your code example explicitly, I don't think storing a bunch of drawables in a "bricks" array in this case, or many cases, is necessary. For instance, it may be better to maintain some sort of Player object or Enemy object that stores an sf::IntRect or something similar. With that IntRect you can use the intersects() method to more easily detect collision, or in the case you mention, you can detect when enemy.collision_rect.intersects(screen_bounds), or conversely, when it does not. This way you can have a vector filled with enemies, or entities and loop through and update their screen positions.
// Say an Enemy object has the members
class Enemy
{
public:
void update(); // updates position and updates bounds based on that
sf::IntRect bounds;
sf::Vector2f position;
};
// Elsewhere you can maintain some list of enemies
std::vector<Enemy> enemies;
// add enemies
enemies.push_back()...
..
..
//
// Iterate through them and update their position and bounds
for(std::vector<Enemy>::iterator itr=enemies.begin(); itr!=enemies.end(); itr++)
{
itr->update(); // move each enemy
if(!itr->bounds.intersects(screen_bounds)) // check if off screen
itr = enemies.erase(itr); // if so, delete
}
// Then you can check the size of enemies and add new ones if needed
if(enemies.size != 5)
{
// add new enemies
}
// Finally draw rects by translating one rectangle to the enemies positions
sf::RectangleShape draw_me;
for(auto& e : enemies)
{
draw_me.setPosition(e.getPos());
draw_me.setSize(e.getSize());
window.draw(draw_me);
}
I'm not sure I hit all the points in your post, but I tried to hit a few here! Let me know if any of this helps.
Within the code example I purposely used two other ways of iterating through a vector(since you already showed your knowledge of stepping through based on the vector.size()).
WOW! Thanks a bunch!
I'm gonna mess around with this for a bit now

Hi, ive been able to draw as many shapes as i desire using a vector, the problem is im unsure of how to interact with them individually.
say for example, i want the max amount of enemies allowed to spawn to be 5, and when one of the currently spawned enemies exits the screen, it 'dies' then another one is allowed to spawn.
or in the case if when im making a snake game, how would i go about only drawing 1 shape at the end of my snake each time the snake 'eats' the 'food'.
do i have to use iterators? what would i have to use to do this kind of thing?
im not asking for anyone to write the code for me, i just dont know what i need to be using, and i dont have much experience with std::vectors and pretty much none of iterators. so just reading the C++ doc really hasn't helped me figure this out.
this is the basic (probably not optimal) code i have for drawing multiple shapes with a vector.(not full source, just the code for the shape vector)
(what i see that i could do, but am not sure if optimal, or even if it will work as i havent tried yet, is have:
int MaxSpawn = 5;
if(Alive == true)
{
for(int i = 0; i <= MaxSpawn; i++) Window.draw(Bricks[i]);
}
but thats not how i want to do it, because it doesnt do what i want still.
outside the main game loop:
sf::RectangleShape Square;
vector<sf::RectangleShape> Bricks(10, sf::RectangleShape(Square));
for (int i = 0; i < Bricks.size(); i++)
{
Bricks[i].setSize(sf::Vector2f(25, 25));
Bricks[i].setFillColor(sf::Color::Green);
Bricks[i].setPosition(20 + (i * 15), Height/2);
}
inside main loop:
//Draw Here
Window.clear();
for(int i = 0; i < Bricks.size(); i++)
{
Window.draw(Bricks[i]);
}
Window.display();